Airbase publication

Establishing an airtight building envelope requires both materials for the surfaces and joining materials for the airtight sealing of joints between components and penetrations, as well as splices and overlappings. In wooden structures, airtight sheeting or sheeting materials are generally used as an air barrier on the surface. Any splices...

Airtightness is mandatory, which also makes ventilation concepts mandatory. Today, the construction/renovation of a building without a ventilation system is impractical in terms of energy efficiency. The minimum air change rate and moisture protection must also be taken into account. Unfortunately, in many buildings...

New and modernized buildings must have ventilation systems – that’s the widely held view. But is it true? What is the energy efficiency potential of a residential ventilation system – and what is the motivation for providing ventilation systems? The DIN 1946-6 standard for the ventilation of residential buildings allows for outdoor air...

This paper deals with the feedback of a full of a ventilation system reconditioning in a non- standard sealed building. This volume was previously retrofitted and immediately shows many difficulties to maintain good indoor air quality in some parts of the occupied volume. Indeed, a permanent well functioning of the ventilation system...

Thermographic investigations often find application in energy consulting or for identifying the causes of problems that are related to building physics. Since this measuring technique is complex, measurement inaccuracies and errors are not uncommon. Thus in order to obtain a meaningful measurement, the object under investigation...

This contribution is made of three parts. Firstly, the in-situ measurement using direct component testing has been described, as such as the required equipment. Secondly, the measurement method has been applied to three different cases of windows: one loose pressure chamber and two fixed pressure chambers. The observation...

In this study, 5 passive houses were tested several times over a period of 6 or 11 years. Besides the repeated testing, information about the conditions of the buildings service over the period between the successive tests was collected in order to explain the differences between the test results. The buildings were tested by...

The trend in Germany and in some neighboring countries is towards increasingly densely constructed buildings. Furthermore, a growing number of individual apartments are being measured. We note that measurement engineers are confronted with new challenges when conducting air permeability measurements: Patience and an...

To measure airtightness, large buildings (multi-family dwellings) require more time, personnel, and equipment than small buildings (single-family dwellings). However, this outlay is not due to stricter requirements relating to the envelope surface of larger buildings, but to the more complex structure (access, supply). Exterior envelope surfaces and interior joint faces make specific contributions to air permeability, depending on the selected design, location in the building...

Standards, energy saving regulations and certifications from e.g. the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) mean that the measuring service provider must possess specialist know-how to conduct air permeability measurements at consumer markets, commercial buildings and other large structures. The issues and problems that arise...